The game is a cross between tennis, squash and racquetball. It is played on courts two-thirds the size of a standard tennis court

INTRODUCING

PADEL

Trevor Baxter looks at the racquet sport that’s taken the Spanish-speaking world by storm and asks whether the UK is ready to follow suit?

uddersfield is syn- onymous with former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Hollywood ac- tor James Mason and as the birthplace of rugby league. But this

West Yorkshire town, whose growth and subsequent decline centred on the textile industry, is also now home to one of the fastest growing sports in the Spanish- speaking world.

Padel is the newest-born sibling of the racquet family – a cross fertilisation of tennis, squash and racketball. Currently, there are just four padel courts in Britain; two located at the Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club. Rye in Sus- sex and the Harbour Club in Chelsea, south west London are the other venues.

When you consider there are 12 million padel players worldwide, including six million registered in Spain, there is consid- erable room for its expansion into the UK. Spain is also home to Tony Lee, presi- dent of the UK Padel Federation (UKPF). Registered in Yorkshire and recognised by the International Padel Federation (IPF) its international influence has grown steadily in the past 18 months.

Padel England, an alternative governing

body, has offices in London and Kent. Both have designs on obtaining funding from Sport England to help the sport flourish. “It took 30 years for the sport to devel- op in Spain, so it’s early days for the UK,” says Lee. “The sport needs to be played by a sufficient number of players or have a minimum number of facilities before Sport England will grant recognition.”

WHAT IS IT? Lesson one – don’t add tennis to the title. It may resemble an abridged version of the sport, but it’s not padel tennis, it’s padel – a game originating in Mexico, circa 1970, and now the most participated in sport in Argentina.

According to padel coach Toni Salord Monserrat, it started with a wealthy Mexi- can man who had a tennis court in his back garden. “He became bored by hav- ing to pick up all the balls. So, he decided to build a wall to prevent that happening and Padel was born,” he says.

WHAT’S NEEDED TO PLAY IT? Over time, padel courts have become standardised. They are roughly two thirds the size of a traditional tennis court; 20m long by 10m wide, incorporating a low